Victoria Azarenka saw her match come to an abrupt conclusion at the Miami Open Thursday night. Madison Keys was having physical pain in her left leg that took her out in the second set handing the pass to the Belorussian 7-6(5), 2-0 on Stadium Court at Crandon Park Tennis Center.
This was a first meeting between the two superstars who made the second round a big matchup. The U.S. Open finalist who got a pass from the first round had the former three-time champion who was still finding her groove in the sport since returning this month. Azarenka lost in straight sets to Sloane Stephens who beat Keys to win the U.S. Open and hoped to avoid losing out of another second round. She put together a strong finish against Catherine Bellis Wednesday with the confidence of building together the same elements.
She watched as Keys got the set underway with a hold before being challenge on her opening serve. Beating the American proved difficult as they went to deuce but somehow held on to level things early. She went for the break to teach Keys a thing or two in the third before gaining a three-game winning streak for herself. Keys struck back on the serve and made a big offensive push that beat Azarenka at the right moments.
With a lot of pressure put against the Belorussian she fell in the next three games giving Keys a 5-3 lead. A break for Azarenka brought an end to the American’s winning streak getting within reach of a tie and saving the set from concluding. She put together a serve to love that ended with an easy smash into Keys end of the court. As they resumed service holds, Keys was the first to answer in extra frames taking the lead 6-5 with Azarenka wanting nothing less than a push to the set tiebreaker.
The double faults weren’t helping her efforts as she put together a pair during the game totaling seven in the set for the former number one. Despite playing five breaks while struggling to hold the AD point, Azarenka succeeded in forcing the set onward. She made a big turnaround with all the troubles coming from her second serve that led to her to a 5-0 run on Keys who couldn’t answer at first.
She gained two points followed by a third as Azarenka’s composure fell out at times. Long balls played a role in how the set ended as Keys’s march to come back ended in another error finishing the set in one hour and four minutes. The ability to dig in deep for the 28-year-old during the tiebreak put aside all the other problems that occurred with 20 unforced errors and eight double faults. Keys managed three herself and 24 errors with the notion of troubles with her left leg.
During the break, the American had the back of her leg tended by the physio trainer who called for a medical timeout. After having her leg hamstring tapped up while Azarenka remained warm the second set got into action serving first. She delivered an opening win followed by a break that saw Keys struggling a lot more. When the third came into play, the 23-year-old couldn’t continue calling it a night on court after 1 hour and 18 minutes.
“It’s the worst way to win a match obviously,” Azarenka said to Andrew Krasny after the match. “You don’t wish injury to anybody being in sport. These things happen so I hope Madison recovers as quick as possible. She’s a great player, a talented individual and a nice person so I wish her well.” The new mom will prepare for Saturday’s third round matchup facing Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia.
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